Visions of The World
by Fanthe
Summary: The World has become a reality! Taking concepts from both the anime and the video games, an entirely new world featuring incredible characters and massive plots has been made! Coauthored by Martin Voltaire
1. Prologue: The Tidal Pool

**Author's Note:**

This fan fiction takes place in an actual world, not a game. The premise is .hack, but instead of having the characters play a game, they live there lives out in a world that is very real to them. Thanks for reading this and enjoy:D

Prologue: The Tidal Pool 

The plush, red throne felt good against her back and, oh, how she loved it. Nothing was more satisfying then being comfortable and savoring the beginning of a wonderful victory. Her long purple robes were only wrinkled by aslight draft coming in from the open window to her throne room. She smirked as she watched the figures before her writhe in pain.

They looked to be human, or at least partly so. Their lightly colored wings began to fade as there bodies began to take gruesome forms. One howled with such agony that it almost made her cringe. Almost. The black auras emitting from them all gave the room a stench that reeked of rotting flesh and the worst combination of garbage imaginable. Never had she smelled a more beautiful scent.

Each form, almost near death, began to shift. Slowly, one by one their bodies morphed. Each gruesomely had his or her body shattered, and in its place a monstrosity stood. The first had become a strange lizard, with rotting corpses growing out of and shrinking back into its back. The second had become a chimera, its three heads snapping at each other. The third had its body transformed into a werewolf, transforming to each of its forms with out control over its own body. The forth and fifth stood next to each other complimenting the other to form two fearsome beasts: The Manticore and The Dragon. The sixth's body, although shattered like the others, reformed into a very humanoid-like form, The Succubus. The seventh sprouted horns on its head and hooves on its feet, snorting wildly, it could be none other than The Minotaur. The lady's head swiveled to the last figure. It was standing and not enraged like the others. His body had only lost his wings. She smiled and directed her voice at the normal one, "And you, who is more normal than all the others, is the most powerful. How quaint."

Her head shifted to her left, almost 180 degrees, gazing upon the form of a limp girl on a stone alter, who was only about 8 years of age. She too writhed, but she did not make a single sound. The child was stubborn, that was definitely for sure. She got up out of her chair and almost glided to the stone block. "How does it feel, my dear? Does my power impress you?" Her voice was soothing yet chilling, exotic but dangerous.

"It…Won't…Work…" The girl's voice strained under the immense pain she was withstanding. "I…Will…Not…Succumb…To…You…Mother…" She gasped and let loose some of her own power. The dark radiance that surrounded her melted away to a clean brilliant light. She began to get off the table, her wings reappearing brighter than ever, almost solid. She looked over at the 8 suffering souls. Her voice was soft and caring, sounding almost carefree, "I can not save you now, creatures, but in do time, you will be saved." She turned to her mother, who was clearly shocked at the recent turn of events.

"You. You do not even deserve to be called my mother, no, not even a sentient being. You have power, but why did you decide to create such things? Is your lust for more so blinding?" She spun around slowly, taking in her surroundings one last time. "I will be leaving now, Ms. Hag. And your plan will not work." With those final words, she held her hand up into the air, where it began to glow. She brought it down smoothly to her shoulder, where a red double loop broach held her purple sash to her aquamarine robes. She disappeared in a flash of blue brilliance, her body and mind long gone from the room. The lady turned back around and went to her chair. "Fool," She muttered, "Nothing can stop The Wave."


	2. Chapter 1: A Crab on the Shore

Chapter 1: A Crab on the Shore 

Lark gasped as he awakened from his fitful sleep. Cold sweat ran down his cheek and out of his hair, drenching his poorly made pillow and his torn shirt. The sun was just rising over the horizon, barely visible through the cracks in the surrounding mountains. None were higher than he was though, and definitely none more inhabited. He got up off of his straw mat and walked over past the lonely tree that marked his point on the summit. He plopped down near the edge and let his feet dangle over the side, watching the sun begin its painfully slow ascent to above the peak of the lowest mountain. That was when he would go, down to the prosperous city carved in to the side of the mountain known as Dun Loireag.

An hour later, he stood up and began to walk the hour-long trek to the city. It was times like this when he almost regretted choosing to live up on the mountain, but his love of the view could never force him to move closer. Besides, in another two days, he would be leaving. On his descent, he watched the birds that dart around above him, playing and singing cheerfully without a care in the world. _I wish I could be that way._ It was a perfect temperature to go on a walk: not too cold and not too hot. There needed to be far more days like this one in fall.

His callused feet hugged the rocks with incredible precision, but 13 years of practice could make anything easy. He had been walking this treacherous path for so long he felt that his legs were almost a part of it. He ran a hand along his rugged face, full of nicks and scratches produced from his rather crude form of shaving with a knife. He had turned 18 only yesterday, and now the only things stopping his from leaving were his friends, who would be of age in two short days. Oh, how long he waited for this week. Soon, he would no longer have to live as an outcast; he could finally live a respectable life and be happy.

The hour seemed to flash by in a second, his thoughts clouding his sense of time. The gate stood before him: The gate to Dun Loireag. He passed through the gate with proud steps, for he could no longer be shooed out of the village for he was an adult. He went to his usual meeting spot: a rabbit hole that had been enlarged enough for three grown people to sit inside. He slid down into the hole, and found that his friends were already there. They were both sprites, meaning that they had translucent wings and magical powers, unlike humans who were substantially better built and had no grasp on the magic that came easily to his friends and others of their kind.

The first, the one named Shiro, was dazzlingly beautiful with her long braided dark hair and dark robes. She wore glasses that were usually seen propped up in her hair, and here eyes were both eerily white with gray pupils, lending her an air of authority usually only held by those who were old. Her wings were colored in a strange tie-die like way, as were all sprites' wings, which were made of a strange substance that looked like extremely thin glass, though it was clearly flexible and very delicate. Her face was contorted in a scowl. "You're late. Again. Why can't men ever be on time?"

"Now, now, Shiro. That was pretty rude." The second one turned his head towards Shiro. His name was Kuro, and he was the male version of his sister, but this was a given, for they were twins. His jet-black hair was worn at medium-length, covering just a bit below his ears. He wore white robes, though, and his eyes were normally colored, a bright blue. "You must excuse my sister, she woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." A smile that was forming on his face broadened as he watched his sister react.

"UGHHHHH! You men are all the same! Always so obnoxious and…" Her voice trailed off and became a low buzzing noise as Lark turned to Kuro.

"Yeash. And I thought she was bad on a good day." This provoked more yelling and ranting, but her continued on anyway. "So, is everything going according to plan? Will you guys be able to move out on time?"

"Yeah, things are working. Mom and Dad really can't stop us from leaving, at least once we turn 18. They seem very objective to us going, even though they don't know about you. As far as they're concerned, you died when your mom died. Let's just hope they don't find out in these last few days. That would be really, really bad."

Shiro stopped her rant after she thought she got her point across, and when she realized they hadn't been paying attention to her in the first place she turned threw herself into the conversation. "I can't imagine how excited you must be, Lark! After all these years, finally getting to leave. I know we've held you back, but soon we'll all be going into the world together, right?"

"Yeah, I guess your right. I might be dead now if you hadn't stopped me from leaving back after my mom's funeral. Who knows what could have happened if I had left while I was so young?" Lark chuckled a bit and then went on. "Unfortunately, Kuro does have a point. Even though they can't through me out of the village, if your parents see me here, they will make steps to stall your leaving."

"Yeah, I guess it would be better if you weren't here. But, come on, what's the worst that could happen?" Shiro shrugged if off and laughed.

Two nights later, Lark could here yelling from inside Kuro and Shiro's house. He dropped down from his perch, a little branch that hung above their house that he used to listen on what was happening in the twins' house. He did not like what he heard.

A very high-pitched voice rang out from the house. This was the voice of Shiro's mother, a busy-body who did very little that was productive and would make up vicious rumors to any who objected to her doing so. "Absolutely not! You might have had our consent before, but not now, not after Ms. Dwil saw you in that ridiculous hole with that savage. I told you to stay away from him, but did you listen? Noooooooo."

"But, but, Mom!" He heard the voice of Shiro cry out, "Why can't we go? We're adults now! It would be absurd to stop us! You can keep us pinned up here forever!"

The booming voice of their dad interjected into Shiro's comment before she could say more. "I'll tell you what's absurd! Hanging out with that common rabble trash!"

Kuro then made his reply, not at all in its normally light tone. "Fine." He slammed his fist down on the table at which they were sitting and threw his glass at the ground. "Then I'm leaving now. Come one, Shiro." They stalked off into their respective rooms and brought out two bugling bags. They then stormed out the door.

"Come on, Lark. I know you're up there. We're leaving." They began to move on without him, leaving the dusty road clouded in their hurry to leave. Lark followed, and they did not say another word for the rest of the day.


	3. Chapter 2: Salty Air and Clouding Skies

Chapter Three: Salty Air and Clouding Skies 

The trio marched down the mountain in silence. The sky was darkening ominously, and storm clouds rolled in like tumble weeds. They continued to troop down the mountain in silence, only making noise with the sounds of their feet. At last, they came to an uplifting site.

"Hey! Look! It's the Chaos Gate!" Kuro said aloud his voice almost back to its normal, happy tone. He quickened his pace, and he was soon standing face-to-face with a swirling blue gate of plasma, kept in place by an engraved golden rim. It rotated slowly, making a slow, droning sound as it did.

Lark caught up with him, his face reflecting shock and confusion. "What in Fianna is a Chaos Gate?" He surveyed the area looking for some clue as to why the gate was there. He walked up to the gate and began to touch it before a sharp tone cut him off.

"Don't touch it!" Shiro said, in a concerned but relatively apathetic voice. "You wouldn't want to lose a hand would you?"

"Yeah, Lark. Touching that would be a very, very, very stupid thing to do. As an answer to your question, the Chaos Gate keeps the chaos out, in brief. Ever wonder why no monsters ever show up on Dun Loireag's mountain side? This little contraption keeps 'em out. Some arcane magic set up by The Founder. I here they're in other cities, too. Like Mac Anu and Carmina Gadelica. Anyway, anything that touches it loses whatever comes in contact with it. It also forms a protective barrier around the mountain to keep flying monstrosities out. It also works in the way that you can't fall off the mountain and anything on the inside can't get out without a magical incantation, not limited to sprites of course."

Lark looked dumbfounded at the pure display of knowledge. "Where did you learn all that? Books? School?"

"Nah, my pig-headed father took me on a trip to a small village outside of the ring of mountains that surrounds Dun Loireag. He said that it would help me understand the geography of the surrounding areas and familiarize me with the landscape. And, as much as I hate to say this, he was kinda' right. Anyway, watch this." Kuro nodded to his sis who cleared the way near the gate and ushered Lark backwards.

"This is some stupid stunt he made up. I've never been brave enough to try it, but he seems to have a blast doing it." Shiro whispered to Lark as Kuro put on a very heroic face.

"Lady and Gentleman! You will now witness, the one, the only, Flying Kuron-Ball!" He took off like a flash, aiming about 15 feet to the gate's right. As he neared his target he leaped forward and curled into a ball. The ball sped forward and collided with thin air. Kuro's curled up body went flying 10 feet backwards as a loud, stretching-like sound echoed through the air. "Woah," He said, incredibly disoriented, "That was fun." His head swayed from side to side a bit as he tried to get up. He drifted to the side a bit and grabbed onto Lark for support. "Ok, we can go now. But draw your spear as soon as we get on the other side. Who knows what kind of monsters could be out there." The only possession Lark had brought with him was a hunting spear, one with which he wielded with immense skill.

"Ok. I'll keep that in mind." He then watched as Shiro approached the gate and uttered the words,

"Enomine Porta Caerculeum, adapeiro." She melted out of sight and reappeared on the other side of the wall. Kuro follow suit, and Lark tripled the motion. This was the first time Lark had ever been outside of Dun Loireag's borders, so he noticed a few key changes. Everything seemed sharper, crisper, than the haziness he often saw outlining the citizens of Dun Loireag. Another notice was it was incredibly colder than inside. He suspected that the barrier might have caused it, but he couldn't really be sure.

With a hand motion from Kuro, they began to march off towards the southwest. They walked for a good hour, and when it was time to set up camp, something occurred to Lark.

"Hey Kuro. Where exactly are we going?"

"To Mac Anu, of course. The Golden Land of Opportunity and The Aqua Capital. If you wanna' find employment, Mac Anu's the place to be." Kuro than drifted off into sleep, Shiro and Lark following suit a few second later.

The next morning they were woken up by the sounds of a muffled struggle. Lark awoke with a start and drew his spear. He shook Kuro and Shiro into reallity and pointed towards the struggle. About a half mile away, fighting behind a beautiful sunrise, were a man in his late 40s and a strange winged beast. Not like a sprite's wings, but like the wings of a bird: stark white and full of ill-managed plumage. The man in his 40s was a sprite, and he barely holding of the thing's assault. He fought brilliantly with magic, though, and it was awe-inspiring yet gruesome to watch.

Lark began to run towards the battle, throwing caution to the wind. The two sprites followed after him, shouting the occasional curse and shaking sleep from their eyes. He arrived at the battle in time for the winged creature to land a solid blow on the sprite's staff, sending it spiraling away. The sprites caught up with him and as Lark tried to attract his attention, he turned and stared at the twins. They fell unconscious in their tracks.

"What have you done?" Lark cried, as he began to charge towards the creature. He swung his spear around with incredible speed. _There's no way he could dodge this._ And he was partly right. The spear stopped in mid-strike. The beast looked down upon him, for he was incredibly tall, and murmured something incoherent. Lark's arms and legs locked in an out stretched position and he fell to the ground with a thud.

"Such a shame, "The monster said with a grace and haughtiness he didn't think wasn't possible. "That you, for interfering with the plans that will change the world, will die here, right now, and right where you lie. Do you have any last words?"

Lark struggled against the tremendous force holding him to no avail. He felt an incredible tiredness growing over him, and as he fought it, the giant sword of the beast, more like an Angel of Death, hung over him, preparing the killing blow. He prayed to Fianna for safety and his sight faded into nothingness.


	4. Chapter 3: A Horde of Seagulls

**Author's Note: **Hey noble gentlemen and beautiful ladies! This is your author speaking. I want to apologize for this repetition of chapter 3. If the words "absent-minded author" ever meant anything they were defined by my being. Anyway, please enjoy and ignore by various errors. My editor isn't perfect you know.

**(The Real) Chapter Three: A Horde of Seagulls**

_Maybe, just maybe, this will improve my life. _These were the thoughts of the poor trader who stood in the dirty streets of Carg, waiting to enroll himself in the expedition to the east that was going to begin today. His eyes flitted past one of the flyers on the side of a poorly built brick building and his spirits grew.

HELP WANTED 

BRAVE MEN AND SPRITES NEEDED TO GO ON EXPEDITION TO THE EAST. UNCOVER RICHES, GO ON AN ADVENTURE; EARN CASH, CASH, CASH!

He approached the registration desk and began to sign the forms. He didn't really care what they said. Heck, he couldn't read the fancy words they used anyway. He was a trader with a family to feed, and this was how he was going to do it. The lady with the phony smile at the desk told him he had three hours to get the stuff listed on the paper she had given him and that if he wasn't there at noon the party would leave without him. He thanked the lady for his time and walked away. His face bore the grin of a demented gold prospector, and the stares he drew were almost as strange as his decaying smile.

He looked at the list, and set out through town, using the little money that should have been feeding his family to buy the best of every item on the list. He bought a cantine line with Aqua Grunty "Fur" to keep his water extra cold, and he bought the best toiletries on the market. Coupled with a sleeping bag that resembled the Iron species of Grunty, he was completely broke. His wife would hate him forever, but he wouldn't be around to deal with it. This made him grin even wider, and he began to loiter around till noon.

The man's navy blue hair was shaken and coated with dust by a gust of wind. He quickly moved his hand to correct it and than he looked at the sun. _Almost noon. Time to do my job. Yeah._ He walked into the center of town from his seat near a café and yelled for the explorers to listen. They began to mass towards him, at least the ones that were there. _Tardiness is inexcusable. No understanding of punctuality in peasants. May Fianna bless their souls though, I really do pity them. Even so, I used to be like them: poor and absolutely helpless against the inevitability of life's inadequacies._ "I suppose you're wondering who I am. You may call me Mycarius. By the order of the government, you are to halt this journey under penalty of law." The looks of utter astonishment on the peasant's faces gave him a satisfied feeling about the bluff. _It still could have been better,_ a nagging thought tugged at him.

"Will you back down?" The peasant's face continued to show dumbfounded looks of shock displaying across their faces. "Umm, kind sirs? Are you among the living?" He waved a hand in front of the nearest one, and a small boy to the left stuck out a frail, trembling hand that pointed behind Mycarius. He turned around to see and reacted immediately, commanding the peasants, "RUN!" He grabbed the little boy, hopped on the nearest Grunty, and rocketed out of the town.

Luashboin smiled. The town lay just ahead, and the screams of terror were like a chorus of angels singing beautiful songs inside his head. He laughed and spurred his Bone-breed Grunty forward. He raised his weapon, a strange looking gadget attached to his arm that shot out darts tipped with poison, and shouted out the traditional battle cries. He yelled at the top of his lungs, even if they didn't work, "Forward Wild Hunt! Charge with the ferocity of demons. Let's slay this town quickly!"

The rest of his horde of undead yelled in response, and the pace quickened towards the town; other than that they made no other sounds. Their Grunties floated above the ground, just as dead as their riders were, and their flaming manes and paws complimented their riders' ferocity quite nicely. They were upon the town in minutes. They spread out among the town. Everything they touched became silent. The spirits of the town were utterly disabled.

"Hey! Mr. Furious Host, Sir! We have about 20 goodies in this here town and the rest need to borrow the coffins." The speakers were to undead brothers, Havok and Payne, his two second-in-command officers and the official deciders of the fate of thousands of people.

Luashboin waved them off as he surveyed the carnage. He breathed in the stench of fear, and out the breath of enjoyment. He responded nonchalantly, "Load the goodies into the cannons, and well, you know what to do with the baddies." A wicked smile from his infected mouth full of rotten teeth I followed. He was so happy one of the more annoying teeth plopped out onto the ground. His Grunty ate it and smiled up at him. The two brothers nodded in agreements, then walked straight into each other as they tried to get to the cannons and coffins respectively. They started to curse at each other, and they ran off to do there owns tasks.

From the cannons he could here the fear of the still living being loaded into the cannon one by one. He enjoyed this process almost as much as he enjoyed the coffin judgment, but more because of their screams than where they ended up. They went on happily to live with Fianna was what the previous leader had told him.

"Hey! Ow! That's my leg! What are you doing putting me in the cannon? No! Don't light the fuse, don't light the fuse! AGGHHHHHHH!" The man in the cannon went flying off into the sky, never to be heard from again. He shifted his attention to the coffins, laid out in a ten by ten formation. One by one, the baddies were placed in the coffins, all 100 of them. They did it completely silently though, because only higher-level soldiers had full mastery over making people silent; he forbid the people on cannon duty to do so. One by one, each coffins closed in. Payne held up a small red button, and with a nod from Luashboin, hit it. Blood squirted out everywhere. The holes in the coffins aloud it to shoot out in vents, and it was a truly magnificent site. Havok approached him and said, "

Mr. Furious Host, Sir! We have reports form scouts who went on ahead that a young child and man in his 20s escaped. Your orders?"

"They have spirit, trying to hide from me. Send the hounds and their owners after them, but bring them back _alive._ You will be punished for any failures."

"Sir, Mr. Furious Host, Yes, Sir!" He then marched off to organize the tracking party. _This was more fun than I thought._ Luashboin smile broadened, and he laid back on his Grunty and began to fall asleep-not that the undead really need that type of thing.


	5. Chapter 4: Grains of Sand

Chapter 4: Grains of Sand 

_Gray hair? I am way too young for this! _The short, turquoise-haired lady plucked out the various hairs out of neatly organized assortment of hair that reached just to her shoulders. The mirror in which she gazed into was a beautiful as the room in portrayed behind her. The mirror's gold frame went beautifully with the base of her bed, a dark brown oak. The silk veils that surrounded her bed were a deep shade of royal purple; the room had a desk that matched the bed and a variety of odd oil lamps on dazzling gold stands that made the room look complete.

_I don't need all this!_ She slammed her fist against the desk that stood to the left of the mirror. She sighed, and turned around. A sharp knock came from the door. "Come in." She said nonchalantly.

"Lady Subaru, I…" The man that stood before her wore a fearsome skull-like mask with horns that entirely enveloped his face. The only holes in the mask were for eyes, two tiny holes just below the nose, and a mouth, and even then the eyes had a strange red filament covering them, presumably for eye protection.

"I told you not to call me that! If you want to use titles, just call me Ms. Subaru! I don't go around calling you Silver Knight, do I Ginkan?" The wings on Subaru's back twitched involuntarily in silent frustration.

"No, Lady, I mean Ms., Subaru, you do not. I came to convey the message that Crimson Knights have just captured the thief that has been terrorizing Mac Anu's market. What do you wish to be done to him?"

"Bring me to him. Have someone prepare my gondola."

"Yes, Lady, Ms. Subaru." Ginkan then left without another word, ending his salute prematurely. Subaru's thoughts rose up in frustration. _Ugghhhh. I really wish he would stop calling me Lady. The only reason I have such a high title is because that pig-headed fool Apeiron was proud of the how well the Crimson Knights do at their job. I really, really, really need a vacation. _A courier came and announced the gondola's readiness. _Maybe Ginkan made the Knights a little **too **efficient. _She than left her room, dropping a generous amount of money in his hand. The look on his face made her smile and she thought, _Happiness like that is something you don't see everyday._

Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at her gondola. An aide handed her an axe, her axe, a weapon that was just a light as it was lethal. She stepped into the gondola and waved a hand to the Knight with the pole. He began to guide them through the marvelous canals of Mac Anu. Mac Anu's only form of mass transit was the canals, but today they were surprising empty. Subaru looked into the water and received a mirror like reflection of herself. _I don't see how the water stays so clean, especially with how we rely so much on it. _She drifted into deep thought, and when she was roused from her 'sleep' she got out of the gondola and onto a dock. A building made of aspen wood lay before her. Ginkan guided her into the building. _Nonetheless, he is a gentleman. _He opened the door for her and she walked inside. Inside she saw a struggling boy of about 15 fighting the grip of two Crimson Knights.

"Let him go." She commanded. "Come here, child. Do you know who I am?" Her tone was pleasant but stern.

"Lady, Lady Subaru!" He gasped as he stepped back a bit. _Again with the title._ She thought that to herself as she prepared a response.

"Yes, but please call me Subaru. Why have you been stealing from the market?"

"My family can't find employment because no one in this city wants to hire us. We don't know why, but I think it may have something to do with my brother's _incident._"

"I see," She responded. The incident he was referring to was that of his brother, a mailman. He was never very popular, but he was treated literally like garbage due to some rumors created by his ex-wife. His gradually became more and more mad, until he finally started a killing spree in which 5 people were killed and 10 injured. She could never forget that. "How about this: are you willing to work very hard?" His head bobbed up and down spastically. "Then you shall be forgiven your crimes. On the condition you start to train to become a Crimson Knight." His face lit up like a fire and he saluted.

"Yes, Lady Subaru."

"And on the condition you never, ever, call me Lady Subaru. No matter who tells you to."

"Yes, Ms. Subaru!"

"Then go and tell your family." The boy ran off and as soon as he was out of sight yelped with joy. _All that done and still not noon yet. Oh well, it was worth it. _A Knight in full battle armor entered the room, panting heavily under his mask.

"Lady Subaru! The Wild Hunt is moving towards a village not very far north of here. They seem to be chasing someone on a Grunty! Your orders?"

"Get your squad together and meet Ginkan and myself at the Chaos Gate." He ran off and began his task.

"Ginkan, go and arranged for two more squads to be ready. Meet me at the Chaos Gate.

Thirty minutes later, the group stood face to face with an oncoming horde of the undead. The Grunty rider was holding onto a child that was dangling behind the Grunty and was almost at the village. She called out to him and ordered him to retreat into the village. The navy blue haired man nodded, too out of breath to really respond. Subaru then motioned for the army to come closer to the Hunt. At the back was their leader, the fool known as Luashboin. She barked orders out for them to defend the city at all costs and to send one squad to protect her as she engaged the leader. They moved into position and with a cry from Subaru, the squad followed her as it dashed towards the Wild Hunt. Subaru easily out ran them, gaining a lead with incredible ease. As she began to enter the fray, she drew her axe and began her dance.

Her axe easily parted the oncoming monsters. They lost head, arms, and legs, but no blood. Most of them fell to the ground, killed by their lack of head. The one who had lost their legs could no longer move and she left them to the Knights. The ones with no arms just kept on charging. She spun her axe in a ring of death around her, cutting down countless waves of the undead that ran at her with no regard for their 'lives'. _This is way too easy. That fool Luashboin is really beginning to slack off on his training. _ As these thoughts crossed her mind, she came to realize that the battle had come to a standstill. About 50 of The Hunt were surrounding her, spears and swords all ready to strike. Subaru turned around and saw Luashboin atop his Grunty. He waved and smiled at her, and then snapped what was left of his fingers nonchalantly. They all began to fall in about her. _I guess it's time for a little magic then._ She took her left hand off the axe and raised it into the air, where it began to shine a bright red. She then took her hand and stroked the blade of her weapon. "It's go time boys!" She leapt into the air and raised her axe high above her head. From her spot three feet above the heads of the horde she saw looks of shock. She smiled. As her descent began, she took to a more graceful position then let gravity do the rest. The glowing red blade hit the ground and everything within a 100-yard radius went soaring into the air, including Subaru, who rode it on her back as she flew higher than everyone else.

As she touched down, she made a slight curtsy in the direction of Luashboin then charged at him. He ordered Havok and Payne to stop her. They ran forward, scimitars flailing. With unearthly speed, she was soon just past them. They froze realizing their mistake and they were knocked unconscious by a blow to the head by the butt of her axe. She continued her charge towards Luashboin. She leapt into the air one more and performed a brilliant down slash move against Luashboin who caught it with his weapon gauntlet. Subaru began to hack with her axe slowly beating Luashboin back. With an air of finality, she performed a large overhead swing that shattered his gauntlet. Sensing inevitable defeat, he called for his remaining troops to retreat. Two Grunties grabbed Havok and Payne by their tunics and dragged them away as the rest of The Hunt hopped onto their Grunties and retreated.

Subaru returned to the Knights the main group and when they reported the village was fine she smiled again. "That was easy."

Author's Note: 

Please, I would like to take a moment to thank my editor, Marlo Voltaire. If it hadn't been for him, the entire idea that started the very story you're reading now wouldn't be any more than a stupid drawing on my science book cover. Give him a big round of applause and get ready to find out what happened to Lark.


End file.
